


A Single Thought

by Kermits_Soft_Kitty



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Endgame Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fix-It, Positive ending, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), The Russo's Suck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:45:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kermits_Soft_Kitty/pseuds/Kermits_Soft_Kitty
Summary: A single thought was all it took for them to win.A Fix-It for Avengers: Endgame. Spoilers throughout.





	A Single Thought

**Author's Note:**

> This is set just as Bruce is using the Infinity Stones so, Natasha is dead. Still can't believe they did my girl dirty. 
> 
> This was all just hashed out in ten minutes with a LOT of emotions involved, so I'll come back and edit later because it's probably horrendous in terms of grammar and spelling and run-on sentences. I'm still struggling with what happened (yay autism) so this is sort of cathartic. I'll get over it lol.
> 
> It may have a few plot holes but then so did the film like ... their time travel excuse was actually shit lol. Take this with a pinch of salt and a nice hot chocolate.

The pressure building in his arm was indescribable. There wasn’t any pain that he could relate it to; even the Hulk side of Bruce’s brain was gritting his teeth to try and cope with the agony coursing up into his collarbones, burning his flesh, destroying his nerves.

His thumb and middle finger inched closer together, vibrating with the effort of moving amidst the radiating energy of the Infinity Stones. Tears bled down Bruce’s cheeks as he cried out, brain foggy and hazy.

 _Bring everyone dusted back_ , Bruce recited, _bring everyone dusted back._

His thumb and middle finger touched. His eyes flew open.

_Bring everyone dusted back to this point in time. Erase all existence of Thanos and his armies in any timeline._

He clicked his fingers.

 

When he woke up, it was to the faces of Steve, Tony and Lang. Tony was busy dousing his mutilated arm with the cooling antiseptic foam as Steve fought to bring Bruce back into the present day.

“Did I do it?” Bruce croaked out. “Did … I asked for several things.”

Tony stopped what he was doing and looked over at Bruce. “What do you mean?” he said cautiously.

Bruce opened his mouth to answer but had to pause to take in some deep, calming breaths. His heart was pounding in his chest, throbbing in time with the pain in his arm.

“When I … I asked for everyone to be brought back to this point and - agh,”

“Sorry,” Tony apologised, going back to spraying the foam on Bruce’s arm. It took a moment before it began to numb the joint. Steve began to help him sit up slowly, careful not to move him too quickly.

“You were saying?”

“I asked for everyone to be brought back to this point in the timeline,” Bruce explained. “And then last minute, I decided to ask the Stones to erase any existence of Thanos in any of the timelines ever.”

Steve and Tony stopped their fussing and exchanged a wide-eyed look. It was clear neither of them had even contemplated that idea.

“What did you say you did?” a voice asked. The three looked up to see Nebula stood awkwardly in front of them.

“I erased all existence of Thanos,” Bruce said pointedly. Nebula’s face went through a series of blank get furious emotions.

“You …. why?” she asked. The three Avengers exchanged confused looks.

“Because he decimated half our population,” Steve said slowly. “We can’t risk that again, Nebula.”

 

From where he was knelt on the floor next to Bruce, Tony assessed the cyborg woman. She was stood a lot more stiffly than usual, despite her generally cool temperament. Her eyes, whilst still black and empty, were colder than he remembered. You didn’t spend all that time playing counter-top games with one another and not know when someone had changed.

“That’s not our Nebula,” Tony murmured slowly. Bruce looked at his friend warily. Steve was stood up now, ready to fight if needs be. From behind Nebula, Clint had strung up an arrow.

“What?”

“She … this isn’t our Nebula,” he said again, lost and confused. “FRI, what did Nebula do after we all got back?”

“ _She re-configured the core to a spatial jump point, Boss._ ” Fury and fear twisted Tony’s face.

“You were going to bring an earlier version of your nutcase dad here, weren’t you.”

Nebula snarled, moving so fast to grab her gun and fire that they barely had any chance to move. She didn't count on the arrow that impaled her in the shoulder-blade, though. It jerked her hand just enough to the left to prevent the bullet from going straight through Tony’s forehead.

“FRI, incapacitate her,” Tony ordered.

Within seconds, a suit had appeared from within the depths of the compound. It snapped the shaft of the arrow off and encased the earlier, more evil version of their comrade, unyielding to her furious screams. FRIDAY drifted the suit of armour away, down to the lower levels where high-security prisons awaited. When there was quiet. They took a moment to breathe.

“So like I said,” Bruce murmured. “Did I do it?”

“You did,” Clint said, crouching down in front of Bruce with a melancholic smile on his face. “Laura just rang asking where I was … I don’t think they know how long they’ve been gone.”

Bruce let out a shaky sigh and couldn't help the stretch of the smile across his mouth. Tony got up and fished his own phone out of his pocket, trying to dampen down the fear that filled his heart.

What if it hadn’t worked entirely? He pressed the home phone number and held it to his ear.

“ _Daddy?_ ”

Tony could have burst into tears.

Morgan’s voice felt like every time he came home to her and Pepper, flooding his tired, aching body with joy and jubilation. His heart swelled as he listened to her burble on about how she’d baked cookies and decorated them in Iron Man colours, completely unaware of what may have happened - completely unaware that he could have died and never seen her again.

“ _Are you coming home yet, daddy?_ ” Morgan implored. Tony let out a shaky laugh.

“Yeah, baby. Daddy’s coming home soon. I have a few things to sort out down here and then I’ll leave. You look after mummy, hear me?”

“ _Okay. Love you three thousand._ ” Tony tilted his head back to hold in the hot, burning tears.

“I love you three thousand too, Morgs.” The phone was put back on its hook.

Tony dropped his head and let himself cry. Big arms wrapped around his back and Tony turned into Steve’s embrace. Unbridled relief swamped through his body and threatened to make him collapse had it not been for the support of Steve’s body and arms.

—

Later on, they’d get confirmation that Thanos truly was dead when their Nebula returned with the joyful news that she’d watched him disintegrate right in front of her.

Eventually, they’d be reunited with everyone they’d lost; Peter would be bouncing off the walls, unaware of how much Tony had missed him, Bucky and Sam would still be ribbing one another as they hugged Steve tight. Clint would be embracing his wife tightly as they mourned over the loss of Natasha. They’d hold a funeral for the Black Widow, to remember her monumental sacrifice for the good of the universe, for the warriors they’d lost before Thanos’s initial snap. They’d document the battles they’d fought and learn from their mistakes.

And finally, they’d sit together a group on the shores of the lake under the stars, Steve and Bruce smiling as they watched Tony entertain his five-year-old baby girl, Peter and May badly toasting s’mores over the fire, Pepper resting her head against Tony’s shoulder and relishing in the touch of her husband’s arms. They would sit there as a ragtag bunch of humans and aliens, tired and sore and overwhelmed, but safe in the knowledge that they had done it - they’d defeated the Titan.

They’d won.


End file.
